Practical ideas to help community groups
do things differently during the downturn

If you have tips or resources to share that may help other community organisations through the recession,
please send them to ocvs@msd.govt.nz so we can add them to this webpage.

During the recession, the NCVO in the UK recommends that community organisations:

• look at funding streams, beneficiaries and costs and plan likely scenarios for your organisation
• revist costs (eg: renegotiate contracts with suppliers who will need your business more)
• develop your volunteer programmes to make the best use of volunteers' skills and attract new volunteers
• build your networks to achieve more through collaboration
• demonstrate your success to secure funding.

» Read more in Backing Communities: local solutions, councils and voluntary and community organisations supporting people through the recession .

» Facing the Financial Crisis: 10 Smart Things Your Board Can Do Now:

1. Don't panic
2. Think strategically
3. Get a realistic picture of your organisation's financial situation
4. Create a contingency plan
5. Work more closely with your chief executive
6. Step up your fund-raising
7. Tighten your belt
8. Pump up your engagement
9. Evaluate your compensation structure
10. Be a mission guardian.

From BoardSource, USA.

The UK's NCVO suggests that funders can work best with non-profit organisations during the recession by doing the following:

• Involve community sector partners in planning your local response to the recession
  (ie: they can bring insight about the impact on communities, emerging needs and demand for certain services)
• Talk to community sector partners about the impact of the recession on them
  (ie: being aware of financial constraints and changes in service demand will help inform funding decisions)
• Keep organisations informed of any potential changes to funding or timescales for decision-making
  (ie: this will enable non-profits to plan better and respond to likely changes)
• Fully understand the consequences if making any decision to reduce funding
  (ie: for the organisations, the people they work with, and the community sector longer term)
• Give fair notice of any reduction in funding
  (ie: at least 3 months notice is desirable wherever possible)
• Pay all fees and instalments on existing agreements and contracts on time
  (ie: prompt payment will help avoid cash flow problems for non-profits).

Jenny Gilll of the ASB Community Trust in New Zealand suggests the following tips for funders:

• Explore other ways of supporting the community sector
  (eg: capacity buiidling, loans for capital projects, etc)
• Hold on to your vision and values
• Review your costs, but don't destroy your intellectual capital
• Identify key organisations aligned with your mission and consider how to support and strengthen them
• Invest where there are multiple returns
  (eg: retrofitting low-income houses produces health, environmental and job outcomes)
• Work with other funders  - ie: philanthropic, local and central government
  (eg: consider how the nine-day fortnight can benefit the non-profit sector).

Collaborating may involve working together, sharing resources, or merging organisations.

Working together

Of course, many community organisations already work together with each other, and with funders and central and local government.  Fewer resources and increased demand can put extra pressure on groups for greater co-operation - but it's important not to rush things! Clarity of purpose is also important.

Sharing resources and information

In New Zealand, community houses are one of the most obvious examples of community groups coming together to share space and resources.  Community centres and marae are other multi-purpose facilities that already host a wide range of community activities.  In cyberspace, New Zealand community groups are coming together online in spaces like Community Central.

But these collective spaces are not the only ways for groups to share - we are interested to hear your innovative and daring new ways of sharing.  Please e-mail us at ocvs@.msd.govt.nz.

The NZ Council of Social Services (NZCOSS) is conducting a short survey every two months to identify trends and paint a useful picture of the impacts on community sector organisations. The more community organisations that participate, the more comprehensive the picture will be. We'll highlight findings here when they are available.

Merging organisations or making major change

The tighter economic times and shifts in priorities may bring the ongoing existence of your community organisation into question.  At such times, it is important to keep focused on the results and outcomes you are trying to achieve, rather than solely focusing on organisational survival.  The reality is that organisations wind down and start up all the time - so perhaps the lifecycle of your organisation is simply at an end. 

Your important work however, may take on a brand new lease of life if you merge with other like-minded groups, or come together in new forms that are greater than the sum of their parts. These changes can be challenging and tough to work through - especially for individuals who have put their heart and soul into a community or an organisation - but keeping focused on your purpose, and improving the lives of those you were set up to help, will ensure that you find the best possible way forward.  If you do merge with others - be sure to bring the best parts with you and leave behind the baggage.

Seven pivotal points when non-profits must make fundamental changes:

• Turning Point 1: Do we need to get organised?
• Turning Point 2: Do we need infrastructure?
• Turning Point 3: Do we need to let go?
• Turning Point 4: Do we need to focus?
• Turning Point 5: Do we need to decentralize power?
• Turning Point 6: Do we need to recapture our core?
• Turning Point 7: How do we move on?

From Rebecca Post, Managing Editor, Fieldstone Alliance, drawn from Seven Turning Points: Leading Through Pivotal Transitions in Organizational Life by Susan Gross, Management Assistance Group.

The following productivity drivers give an overview of the types of changes you can implement to make your organisation more productive:

• building better leadership and management
• organising work
• networking and collaborating
• investing in your people and their skills
• encouraging innovation and using technology to get ahead
• creating productive workplace culture
• measuring what matters.

» For more information about the productivity drivers, read the Workplace Productivity Challenge report.

» Plan ways to improve your organisation: Complete the Workplace Productivity Snapshot questionnaire and use the Workplace Productivity Starter Kit. 

If regular sources of revenue look uncertain, it is important to look wider for income from new sources and tune into the priorities these funders are focusing on.

With little scope to reduce costs, some community groups may face greater reliance on volunteers, so it is vital that recruiting and training processes are sound, and volunteers are well-supported.

It is always important to measure results, but when resources are especially tight and funders have to make hard choices about which projects or programmes to fund, then knowing which ones are making a difference becomes even more vital.

In her blog, Evaluation Methods - How Can A Nonprofit Use Them To Raise More Money More Often, Arlene Spencer states how powerful it is for a nonprofit to demonstrate a willingness to learn, by sharing with its donor(s) what results weren't achieved, and stating how they will improve things in the future. "What a donor wants to see, over time, is that a nonprofit is not only operating professionally, ethically, and transparently; but it is not repeating its mistakes, but rather improving its work and the benefit of the nonprofit's work on the community."

Already community groups have come together in Wellington, Kaikohe and Waitakere specifically to look at how to get through the recession in the best ways possible.

You can read notes and presentations from Wellington and Kaikohe on this website, or you share your news from your region.